D&A Racing welcomes EMPI and WISECO to the House of Power East

It takes a lot of help to do good in drag racing, especially nowadays with the economy in the toilet. I couldn’t do what I do without the help of a long list of people. I would like to add EMPI and WISECO pistons to that list. It makes me proud that our program is growing to a point that we can attract a company like EMPI that would be willing to help us out, and in turn we can give them feedback on some of their products.

The last couple of races have been very trying for D&A Racing. We hit a high early this year by setting the NHRA SS/VX record at Phoenix, to a low by losing the record the next race at Las Vegas, to and even lower by being shut off at the starting line just before the finals at Drag Day because oil was pouring out of my breather box. The downward spiral was caused but me setting the top ring gap too wide. Lesson, don’t gap rings at 1am!

The last 2 weeks was jammed packed with changing cylinders, installing new WISECO pistons, and letting Doug gap the rings! Nothing ever goes as smooth as you want. Doug and I both work crazy jobs and live about 20 miles apart, so time gets eaten up REALLY quick!

We hit the dyno a week early with plans to hit 2 races in one weekend, one in Sacramento and Sunday at Bug-in 36. The chance to reset the NHRA record was too tempting not to try something that crazy. That first dyno session didn’t go to well, and with Roger @ Heads Up dyno being so popular, we were done for a week. Now it’s the Friday before the race at 11pm and we finally get back on the dyno. Breaking in a motor takes a long time, and the whole time I was praying that the rings would seal up, because we were now officially out of time if anything bad happened.

While I was working on the motor, Doug was talking with Jesse Hardin of EMPI about using a set of their new 51.5 carb set to see if we could get a little more power out of the engine. I ran a set of their carbs the very first race last year, but they were a loaner set from Roger just to make the race. Since the motor blew up I didn’t really know how they performed.

Saturday at noon we started making power pulls, and things looked good right off the bat. Good torque and strong power @ 7000, then 7500, then up to 8500. Best of all, no smoke and no oil out the breather! Doug showed up about 1pm the the carbs. They were literally still in the box! Doug cut the tape, pulled them out and after a few checks bolted them on. Our best power to date had been on the last pull that day, 247hp @ 8300. We have been running stock 48 IDA’s with 42 venturis. We installed 44 vents in the EMPI 51.5s and with a quick check on the O2 sensor, Roger made a blast. 251hp @ 8000! The mixture was a little lean, so we bumped up the jet and turned up the rpm a little. 254 @ 8300! 7 hp increase was huge, I knew the car was going to thunder. I know with a few little changes the carbs are going to work even better. For the price you are miles ahead than if you had to buy a set of Webers then have them modified by a shop.

And thunder it did! #1 qualifier @ 6.77, low E.T and top speed of the day, and the win! Two Bug-In wins in two years!

Again, I would like to thank all the people that help D&A Racing:
Jesse Hardin @ EMPI for the carbs
Roger @ Heads Up for keeping your head while I was losing mine, thanks for all the help on the dyno
Rick @ Bugpack for the motor parts the take a lickin and keep on tickin!
@ WISECO pistons for a killer setup. Finally steppin up to the 21st century of piston tech.
Mike @ 407 Speedshack for the killer trans. We are hitting it hard on the starting line and it keeps on taking it.
Mario @ Pauter Machine I won’t even tell you what we launch the motor at. It would make you cringe! The best rods on the market.
Al @ Dominator for a great car. 97 mph in a 30mph cross wind and never felt a thing.
Thanks to the crew chief that made it to the race sick as F***. Thanks for everything Doug.
Thanks to the supporting crew, Taylor Walton, Robin Hart (my girlfriend) and Jason Young for the video work. Movies coming soon….

Until next race,
Anthony D&A Racing